Should Harden take a mid-range jumper if left open or dared to?

is that what is happening? last i checked hes scoring in other ways including his floaters. and the box score also continues to move without him actually scoring. that's just as important if not more.

but hey difficult midranges right. that's most important

 

I think some folks are still underestimating Gobert’s impact on the Utah series, as hard as that is to believe. Defensively, the guy was incredible, in my opinion. How he was impacting Harden’s game, and not just his game, was huge. No pun intended.

 

you're the one who said doggystyle defense takes away threes and midrange. so what's left? Harden drawing fouls or floaters? that's your definition of GOAT offensive player?

 

I think it's near impossible to bother the floater, protect the rim, and stop the lob to Capela all at the same time. If I had to pick one player who was the best at all of this, it's Rudy Gobert. You have to have incredible length to bother/block the floater without putting yourself out of position, I'm not even sure anyone can do this other than Gobert.

 

He had plenty of opportunities to do that this series... but that art of stop and pop has gone out the window.

Only 2 people do it...and they suck... Melo and Shump lol

 

it took away his stepback 3 genius. that's different from taking away a 3 pointer altogether

funny someone barking so much, you obviously haven't watched much of the actual game.

so you're really trying to tell everyone here he scored solely on floaters? your answer will determine if its even necessary to continue

 

Bucks also did it. and even if there are only three or four teams that can properly limit Harden's floaters, that's enough to prevent this team from winning a championship. The fact is, floaters should be one of Harden's moves, not the only option when his threes are taken away.

 

Harden shot horribly in this series. what's the difference between bricking a shot and not even attempting it? the end result is the same idiot.

 

Hells yes he should. Always thought one of his most unstoppable moves/shots was that little post-up, back-down, then one-dribble spin-move he used to use to get himself a fadeaway mid-range shot. Haven't seen him go to that in a couple years, actually.

 

oh is it? so during the first 3 quarters of game 3, it ended the same as the 4th quarter of game 3 for harden moron.

 

Totally disagree, the Bucks chose to give Harden the wide open floater and did not bother it at all. They chose to hang back, take away the lob, and protect the rim. This left the floater wide open. Against the Bucks this year Harden shot 5/8 on floaters. I think he should have taken a lot more.

 

lol idiot, Harden averaged 37% in the series. that's your definition of GOAT offensive player? everything is fine?

 

who gives a damn. they're moving on. he could shoot 10% and if the rockets won, that still would be the only thing that mattered.

 

yes because most teams have not scouted on Harden floaters properly. This is the first year Harden started using it regularly, so of course most defenses were not ready for it. That's why you shouldn't use this year's percentage to justify that it's a great option. It will become progressively less effective when it's the first thing mentioned on the scouting report.

 

apparently after 87 games, teams havent scouted what harden does including his floater. so we are told. LMAO

 

Its about to be the 2nd round of the playoffs, its been in the scouting report since November.

 

Well okay, thats fine, but now you're changing your argument. You said the Bucks did the same thing as the Jazz by stopping all 3 options on the drive, and I'm just not agreeing with that. In my opinion you have to pick your poison, unless you are Rudy Gobert. If you step out to contest the floater, Harden can dump it off to Capela underneath. If you sit back on Capela to the side of the rim Harden can lay it in on the other side. You can camp deep in the paint and the floater is wide open. It's very difficult to stop, and I don't think you can stop all 3 unless you are a freak with an 8 foot wingspan.

 

Nah, 4-1 series win over a top defensive team in the league is what’s fine. If you don’t think harden contributed to our wins, even with his poor shooting, you weren’t paying attention.

 

Open shot means typically 4-6 feet of space. I've never seen Harden have that much space when less than 15 feet from the basket. He usually has 22 or more defenders within 4 feet of him all watching him. I think instead of open, the OP means uncontested or lightly contested, which is very different. Meaning that the defender doesn't put his hands up or try to stop you from making the shot even if he is in range. Its impossible to know if a shot will be contested if it was not shot, but I seriously doubt that he could get a shot off without the defender at least putting a hand up. Gobert blocked a floater from about 6 feet away, so I think even if harden stopped a few of steps earlier and took a jumper, which is slower than a floater, he would have been contested.

Harden is the best offensive player in the league and the only open or uncontested shots he gets are free-throws. I don't think he got a single uncontested 3pt shot this season

 

another moronic post. then why do teams play Harden differently during the playoffs than in the regular season? what happened in 2017 WCSF when Spurs made adjustments to their defenses? didn't they know that Harden was adverse to taking midrange shots and all they had to do is limit his threes and drives?